Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IV.djvu/571

 CHRONOLOGY 559 birth of the son by whom the succession was carried on, which gives the total length of the period, wherein they differ widely. The two statements stand thus : PATRIARCHS. UEFOBE H BIRTH OF BIB. Total Ape In Hebrew. Septuagint. both. Adam 180 230 980 8eth 105 205 912 Enos 90 190 905 Calnan 70 170 910 Mahaleel 65 165 895 Jared 162 162 962 Enoch 65 165 865 Methuselah 1ST 187 969 Lantech 182 188 777* Noah (at flood) 600 600 Time of the flood 1,656 2,262 There are various means of explaining this dif- ference of 606 years. Modern scholars give the preference to the following of Bockh. The 2,262 years of the Septuagint are con- sidered an attempt on the part of the 70 inter- preters at reducing the 1,656 years of the He- brew text to 19 Sothic cycles, which are equal to 27,759 Egyptian years, or to as many months of 29 days, in all 818,890^ days, and which are equal to 2,242 Julian or Sothic years. This Sothic year, which differs from the Julian in the day of commencement alone, seems to have been the year of the priests, and its early use by the Egyptians is shown on a calendar sculptured on the exterior of the temple of Medinet Abu at Thebes. But sup- posing the Hebrew figures proved genuine, there remains the difficulty of proving them historical. They place the time of the flood at about 2340 B. O. Both the Babylonian and Egyptian histories represent powerful mon- archies as existing about or before that date. Sir Gardner Wilkinson places the beginning of the 4th Egyptian dynasty at 2450, and this was preceded by several others. Eawlinson places the foundation of the Chaldean mon- archy at about 2286. Others carry these dates still further back. This difficulty may indeed be got over by assuming the Egyptian and Babylonian chronologies to be erroneous. But the Hebrew dates seem to be inconsistent with historical events narrated in connection with them. According to the present text, Abraham was born not quite 300 years after the flood, when the whole human family consisted of but eight individuals. Yet it is clear from the nar- rative that in his day the whole region from the Euphrates to the Nile was densely peopled. There were also powerful kingdoms east of the Euphrates; for we find Chedor-laomer, king of Elam, that is, of southern Persia, with three allies, making military expeditions to the val- ley of the Jordan. Now a period of about 376 years from the flood to the migration of Abraham to Canaan is altogether too short to allow such an increase of the human race, ac- 190 VOL. IV. 36 cording to any known law of the growth of population. If we assume the Septuagint period of 1,147 years, this difficulty is obviated, and the chronology approximates to that of the Egyp- tians, Babylonians, and Chinese. It is safer, upon the whole, to consider the entire chro- nology of the world to be uncertain up to about the time of Abraham. From that time the chronologist begins to tread upon firm ground, the Hebrew dates being clear and definite within a few years. The exodus from Egypt is well fixed at 440 years after the migration of Abraham. From the exodus to the com- pletion of Solomon's temple the Hebrew text gives 480 years, the Septuagint 440. An at- tempt has indeed been made to extend this period by about 150 years ; but.it seems to be based upon insufficient data. From the time of Solomon Hebrew chronology becomes fairly connected with that of Egypt, Assyria, and Babylonia, and the dates of each are confirmed by the others. Chinese and Hindoo chronolo'gy is fairly credible to about 2200 B. C. Greek and Roman dates are generally well authenti- cated to the 1st Olympiad and the establish- ment of the consulate, previous to which they are mainly traditional or legendary. From the Christian era to our own times the date of nearly every important event is settled beyond question within a year or two. The materials for the chronologist consist of original monuments, such as inscriptions, coins, and the papyri found on Egyptian mummies, and of written records either contemporaneous with the events or handed down through a succession of writers. Inscriptions and coins have a special value, as they are usually made by public authority, and in any case exist in their original state ; whereas in successive transcriptions or quotations there is always a possibility of error. The Assyrian, Babylonian, and Egyptian inscriptions are in extinct languages and in characters long obso- lete. For the means by which these have been deciphered, see CUNEIFORM INSCRIPTIONS, and HIEROGLYPHICS. The written records of Egypt, besides the papyri, come through Manetho, who lived about 300 B. C., and professes to have made use of original authorities. Of his work we have only fragments preserved in citations by later Greek writers. The written history of Babylonia, besides the inscriptions and tablets, comes mainly through Berosas, who wrote about 260 B. C. ; of his work also only fragments are extant. Ctesias, a Greek, about 415 B. C., wrote a history of Babylonia, but it is not regarded as authentic. Herodotus is valuable only as to events of his own time, about 450 B. C., and those of a century or two earlier. Attempts have been made to bring astronomy to the aid of chronology. Eclipses being anciently regarded as portents, occasional mention is made of them in connection with historical events. Thus Herodotus says that a battle between the Medes and Lydians was brought to a close by a total eclipse of the sun, assumed to be that of 610 B. C. Now if it
 * So in the Hebrew; in the Septuagint, 758.